Luang: A Study of Diachrony, Function and Meaning

Abstract

This research is a diachronic study of the word "Luang". The aims of the study were 1) to investigate the appearance of the letters and the orthography of the word "Luang" and 2) to investigate the parts of speech, function and meaning of the word "Luang" from Sukhothai period to the early Rattanakosin period (Rama V). This research has a conceptual framework of syntactic theory. The researcher collects data from research studies from the Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, and early Rattanakosin periods (King Rama V). From the year of 1835 B.E. - 1925 B.E.
The results of the research showed that in terms of the dimensionality of letters and orthography, the word "Luang" appeared to have been used since Sukhothai period. In terms of the evolution of the word "Luang", when separated by initial consonants, vowel, and final consonant, it can be seen that the word "Luang" has not much change in initial consonants and vowels, but there were changes in the final consonants /ŋ/. In terms of drawing, there were more curve in the letters. Orthographically, The final consonant was placed behind the vowel and somewhat offset from the vowel so that it could be identified as the final consonant. As for the word composition of the word “Luang”, it was a monosyllabic word with four components.
The word formation of "Luang" in Sukhothai period, there were 3 ways: 1) the formation of compound words consisting of the main part [single word] + complement part [single word] 2) main part [single word] + complement part [compound word] 3) main part [compound word] + complement part [single word]. The word formation of “Luang” in Ayutthaya period, there were 2 ways: 1) the formation of compound words consisting of the main part [single word] + complement part [single word] 2) main part [compound word] + complement part [single word].
The function of the word "Luang" in a sentence, the word "Luang" was found to function as an important part of the sentence: as the subject unit, the direct object unit, the indirect object unit, the object unit after the preposition, and the clause complement.